Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal wrote Monday on the links between BDS leadership and Hamas financiers, highlighting the testimony of Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who testified on the matter before Congress last Tuesday. Appearing at a joint hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittees on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade and on the Middle East and North Africa, Schanzer explained that leaders of organizations linked to Hamas had “gravitated to a new organization called American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)”, which is a “leading driver of the BDS campaign.” AMP is “arguably the most important sponsor and organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is the most visible arm of the BDS campaign in campuses in the United States.” Stephens wrote in his column, "SJP’s self-declared goal is to end Israel’s 'occupation and colonization of all Arab lands' while 'promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.' That’s another way of saying destroying the Jewish state." Schanzer noted in his testimony that “at least seven individuals who work for or on behalf of AMP have worked for or on behalf of organizations previously shut down or held civilly liable in the United States for providing financial support to Hamas: the Holy Land Foundation [HLF], the Islamic Association for Palestine [IAF], and KindHearts.”

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from both parties have demonstrated their commitment to confront growing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment on college campuses. The congressional Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, which was launched in March 2015, sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary John King earlier this month asking what his department was doing about these issues. The signatories explained that “anti-Semitic intimidation, harassment, and discrimination are manifested not only in easily recognizable anti-Semitic slurs but also in anti-Semitism masked as anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment.” The taskforce expressed its alarm about the growth of anti-Israel programs and BDS campaigns on campuses. The letter was signed by the 38 members of the taskforce, which is chaired by Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.).

Iran has sentenced four journalists to jail on charges of subverting national security, their lawyers told reporters on Tuesday.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced last November that they had arrested “several members of an infiltration network linked to hostile Western governments.” The suspects “were working in the country’s media and social networks,” authorities said.

At the time, Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nation’s special rapporteur for the human rights situation in Iran, warned that the “Increasing intimidation of journalists is hindering their ability to operate freely in [Iran].”

“The government of Iran should not silence critical or dissenting voices under the guise of vague and unsubstantiated national security concerns,” he added.

The journalists, three men and one woman, were given sentences ranging from five to 10 years, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported. Two of the men are said to be affiliated with reformist publications.

Afarine Chitsaz, the female journalist, and Ehsan Safarzayi both received five-year terms, while Ehsan Mazandarani was given a seven-year sentence and Davoud Assadi a 10-year sentence.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie, a Judiciary spokesperson and deputy chief, confirmed on Sunday that four sentences had been handed down. The fate of a fifth journalist in custody, Issa Saharkhiz, remains unclear. Saharkhiz completed a three-year prison term in 2013 after he was convicted of insulting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and publishing propaganda against his regime.

Saharkhiz allegedly criticized Khamenei and other Iranian leaders while talking to foreign media in the months prior to his most recent detention.

Mazandarani ran a reformist paper, Farhikhtegan, and was previously detained over allegations that he acted against national security and was in contact with foreign nationals in 2009. At the time, many Iranians were protesting the disputed re-election of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

All four convicted journalists are expected to appeal their sentences.

Shaheed wrote in a March report that Iranian civil life has been marked by a “widening crackdown” on freedoms, including freedom of expression. While Shaheed welcomed the release of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was convicted of espionage in a secret trial before being freed earlier this year, he also noted that “as of January 2016 at least 47 journalists and Internet users were reportedly imprisoned” by Iran. This has resulted in a dismal rating of 173 out of 180 according to the World Press Freedom Index.

Shaheed also expressed regret over “a widening crackdown on freedom of expression and opinion during the reporting period, punctuated by a series of arrests carried out by the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards and harsh sentences against journalists, cyberactivists and artists.”

The Associated Press reported in October that two Iranian poets were imprisoned and sentenced to 99 lashes apiece for shaking hands with members of the opposite sex. The AP also noted that at least 30 journalists had been arrested by the regime by the end of 2014.

When was the last time you stood face-to-face with a lion, leopard or bear? And did you know that these animals once roamed the land of Israel? Natan Slifkin, founder and director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History opened this interactive edutainment initiative — that is part museum, part zoo – to inspire others about the animal kingdom from biblical times. “It’s a completely unique experience where visitors see a perspective of the Bible and Israel they’ve not thought about before. Usually the Bible is thought about in relation to rituals and not how it relates to hyenas, chameleons and crocodiles,” says Slifkin, who did his PhD dissertation on rabbinic encounters with zoology. “Here, you get to interact with exotic animals from the Bible.” One reviewer on Trip Advisor writes: “Our group ranged in age … All loved the time spent there. In particular, the pre-teens and teens loved holding the animals (under careful supervision), the adults loved watching the children interact with the animals, and all learned quite a bit.” In 2014, the Biblical Museum of Natural History opened its doors in a temporary rental location in a warehouse in the northern industrial zone of the city of Beit Shemesh, 30 kilometers west of Jerusalem. In its first year, the museum counted 10,000 visitors. The Biblical Museum of Natural History is the only one of its kind anywhere, says Slifkin, who has run a number of educational programs at zoos and natural history museums worldwide. (via Israel21c)